Return, Rebirth, Redemption
by Chatterbox Angel
Summary: Though slightly alike, Albus Potter was more different from his father than anything else.  But his destiny definitely seemed to mirror his father's, he, too, had something he would have to save.  All of it started with his friendship to Scorpius.  AS/S
1. The Beginning of the End

Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters or affiliated books, movies, games, etc. The creator and copyright holder of Harry Potter, to the best of my knowledge, is J.K. Rowling. However, this story's plot is my original idea as are the original characters, so no stealing, taking, copying, borrowing, etc.

Warning: Although this fanfiction does start out with the friendship of Albus and Scorpius, it will eventually evolve in a _romantic_ relationship. So, readers, keep that in mind.

The day Albus got his first Hogwarts letter was one of the most exciting days of his life. He had woken to the smell of his mother cooking his favorite breakfast and ran downstairs just as the owl flew in through an open kitchen window. Of course, it was carrying one for James as well, but he only had eyes for his own letter. After that, breakfast became an energized affair during which all three children begged to be taken to Diagon Alley that day. Luckily, Harry had the day off (a very rare thing for the Head of the Auror Office), so Harry and Ginny took their children to Diagon Alley.

Once there, they had to split up, because not all three children to go to the same place. Harry took James to the Eyelops Owl Emporium while Ginny took charge of Lily and Albus. Their first stop was Ollivander's, because Albus needed a wand, and Lily wanted to watch the process. After only a few tries, Albus's wand had chosen him. It was eleven inches long, made of mahogany with a phoenix feather core.

"Curious," Ollivander had said in that low, wheezy voice of his. "Very curious. Young mister Potter, it would seem that your looks are not the only thing you inherited from your father."

"What does that mean?" Lily had demanded to know, and Albus was very glad for that. Because while he could be quite vocal when surrounded by his family, people he'd known all his life, he had trouble speaking up when anyone else was around. Unlike his siblings and many, many cousins, Albus was painfully shy.

"The phoenix who gave a feather for your father's wand only gave two feathers, one for your father's and one for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. However, the phoenix's offspring did give a feather, just one," Ollivander answered with a twinkle in his eyes. "Your wand has that feather. The wand always chooses the wizard, young mister Potter, always. Your elder brother's wand choice is similar to your mother's."

"Oh," was all Albus could say in response to that. It was the first word he had spoken since entering the wand shop and would be the last as well. Lily looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but thankfully, Ginny noticed her son's discomfort under the wandmaker's scrutiny and quickly reached for her money while inquiring how much it costs. This effectively drew the attention away from Albus and onto herself.

Soon enough, they had left the shop and were on the way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occassions to get Albus his school robes. However, once there, Lily had a sudden craving for a raspberry-chocolate-marmalade soufflé, which was only available at Starfire's Seventy-Flavored Sweets. So, Ginny left Albus at Madam Malkin's fr the fitting and took Lily to the sweets shop after promising to be back soon.

When Madam Malkin turned her attention on Albus, she smiled at him and told him to stand on a nearby stool. He returned her smile with one of his own and silently followed her instructions. Then, she slipped a robe over his shoulders and started fussing with fabric and pins. As she did this, the black-haired boy looked around and started in surprise when he spotted another boy on a nearby stool already well into the process he had just begun. Their eyes met, and Albus's green orbs widened with wonder when he noticed the other boy's eyes were pure silver.

"Hello," the boy said cordially. "You're Albus Severus Potter, right?"

At these words, Albus tensed in apprehension. Her it was again. Wherever he went, people always recognized him as the sone of the famous Harry Potter, because he was "just like" his father. He had long ago started hating that sentiment, but not because he hated his father. No, he loved his father very dearly, but he didn't think he was much like his father at all. Either way, politeness demanded that he answer, and Albus managed to force out a rather quiet, "Yes."

"I thought so," the boy replied. "I saw your picture in the Daily Prophet a few weeks back."

At these words, Albus immediately perked up. Indeed, the Prophet had been making a big deal about the fact that Harry Potter's second son would be going to Hogwarts starting in September, and his unwilling, blushing face had graced the front page at least a few times during the summer. As he stood there silently, Albus desperately wished to say something, anything to the first person who wasn't related to him by blood that had recognized him as himself rather than the son of the Chosen One. But his throat kept seizing up every time he tried to speak. Why? Why couldn't he hold conversations with people outside his family? Why couldn't he say more than one word to this boy who had actually seen him?

"What's your name?" the words rushed out of the black-haired boy's mouth, and it took a few moments for him to recognize his own voice. Apparently, his body could act while his mind was seized with panick. At least, his mouth and vocal chords could manage to form three words while his was occupied with quarreling with itself.

"I'm Scorpius," the blonde boy answered with a small smile and a chuckle. "You're not very much like your father, are you?"

"Not really, no," Albus said in a very quiet voice. He managed to respond more quickly, but his voice caught in his throat again. So, no explanation was offered beyond those three words.

"You don't talk very much, do you?" the boy, now known as Scorpius, asked curiously.

"Sorry," it was the only reply Albus could think of.

"It's fine," Scorpius said, and Albus suddenly got the strangest feeling that the boy had decided he was some sort of interesting mystery to be unraveled. "So, are you going to Hogwarts this year?"

"Yeah," Albus said with a wide smile. His voice was still quiet, but it was getting easier to talk with this boy.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" Scorpius was now purposely asking questions that could be answered with one word, correctly figuring it was the easiest way to get answers from Albus. However, this was one topic on which he could speak more than one or two words…mostly because of how much his family had been discussing it recently.

"I don't really know," Albus said. "James keeps telling me horror stories about Slytherin and then saying I'll be sorted there. Uncle Ron swears he'll disinherit anyone who's in Slytherin. I still don't know what's so bad about it, but I'm kind of hoping not to be placed there."

"My whole family's been in Slytherin," Scorpius's silver eyes narrowed as he said this.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Albus began to apologize but was interrupted by an accidental yet painful jab of one of Madam Malkin's needles. He winced in pain before turning his attention back to Scorpius, only to find the blonde boy hopping down from the stool. His fitting was finished. Albus watched helplessly as Scorpius took his new robes, paid for them, and left the shop. At that point, Albus just knew that Scorpius had taken his final words the wrong way. He had meant to apologize, but to Scorpius, it probably sounded like sarcastic mocking. Sighing, Albus fell silent and remained that way even after his mother returned with a mint-firecracker-pumpkin seed muffin from Starfire's for him.

"What's wrong?" Ginny had asked, worried after Albus's favorite Starfire sweet had failed to bring a smile to his face. The black-haired boy merely shrugged and accepted the muffin with a quiet thanks. How he wished he hadn't alienated the one boy who had recognized him as himself and that he'd actually been able to have a conversation with. As Ginny paid for his new school robes, Albus wondered if there was anyway he'd be able to befriend Scorpius now. Maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to find the blonde on the train to school and explain what he meant. Scorpius had seemed nice enough and would probably accept a proper apology. Cheered by that thought, Albus was happily chewing on his muffin by the time he, Ginny, and Lilly met up with Harry and James at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

The next couple of weeks passed by very slowly for Albus Potter. He was constantly jumpy whenever someone mentioned Hogwarts, because Hogwarts reminded him of Scorpius and how much he wanted to the boy as a friend. Despite having a, for lack of a better word, plan, the black-haired boy was very nervous about his upcoming conversation with Scorpius. He didn't yet know ho he would, but Albus was determined to find Scorpius on the Hogwarts Express before it reached its destination. Anyway, his nervousness him so jumpy that his family was constantly concerned about his behavior. And because he didn't want to tell them about the incident in the robe shop, Albus, for the first time in a very, very long time, liked to his family by telling them he was simply worried about the start of term.

Eventually, the morning of September 1st dawned a bright, new day, and after the usual crazy morning routine of gathering together all the children's until last minute forgotten necessities, the family had gathered themselves on Platform 9¾. Lost in his own thoughts, Albus attempted to tune out everything else while responding only half-heartedly to the words he heard until he heard his Uncle Ron mention Scorpius's name. His eyes darted around frantically until he spotted the blonde-haired boy with his family. The desire to be friends shot through him once again, and he decided to go apologize right then and there. However, Albus suddenly became aware of just how many people were on the platform, and a fit of shyness seized him once again, making it damn near impossible for him to move.

However, Albus was careful to note which compartment the boy leaned out of to say his final good-byes as he was doing the same thing himself. As soon as the platform was no longer visible, Albus turned away from the window, ignored the empty seats, and marched with singular purpose toward the door.

"Hey, Alby," his cousin called after him, causing him to halt his footsteps. "Where are you going?"

"There's someone I need to talk to," Albus said without turning around, in a voice at least two to three times as loud as any he had used in front of Scorpius. In other words, he was speaking in a tone most would consider normal. After he spoke those words, he felt the surprised stare drilling into his back and chose to ignore it in favor of continuing to speak. "I might be back soon. I might not. But I'll come back here to change into my school robes, so you'll see me before we get there, okay?"

"Ok," Rose answered slowly but said nothing else as she watched him exit the compartment.

Once in the aisle, Albus walked as quickly as he could to the compartment where Scorpius was seated and then froze. The thought suddenly occurred to him that other people might be in there, which would make it about a billion times harder for him to apologize. But, he had come here with a mission, so, swallowing his shyness as best he could, Albus slowly opened the compartment door to reveal, to his complete and utter relief, that Scorpius was indeed alone.

"Um, can I come in?" the black-haired boy spoke in a voice so softly that he was afraid that the other boy would not be able to hear it. However, the blonde did turn his head, and those wondrous silver eyes narrowed infinitesimally as their owner recognized Albus.

"I guess so," Scorpius said in a tone that was obviously guarded. Nevertheless, Albus steped into the compartment more fully and closed the door behind him. Then, he just stood there staring at Scorpius wondering why, before this point, he had never even thought about what to say now that he was actually here. Scorpius didn't say anything either and stared right back. Well, he had come to apologize, so he might as well start with that.

"I'm sorry," he said in a very low voice, but it conveyed his sincerity quite well. And then, as though a damn had broke, everything he did and didn't want to say started to come rushing out. "I wanted to apologize properly in the shop, but she stuck me with a pin, and then you were leaving, and I couldn't stop you. I didn't mean to insult your family or anything. I'm sure being in Slytherin doesn't mean anything bad. I bet your family is perfectly nice. James is always exaggerating things, and Uncle Ron complains about stupid stuff all the time. I didn't mean anything sarcastic or bad or whatever, I just stopped talking at a really bad time. I mean, I would never say anything bad about you. Not when you actually saw me, not…" Albus started trailing off then, finally noticing that Scorpius wasn't looking anymore. No, his eyes were closed as he shook with laughter.

"I get it, I get it," Scopius said while chuckling. "Apology accepted. You can stop babbling." Albus's reply was a wide, dazzling smile that was full of happiness.

"Have a seat," the blonde said, gesturing to the empty sea across from him, and Albus immediately took it. "You know, that little monologue of yours contained at least twice as many words than the total you spoke to me in the robe shop."

"Probably," Albus replied, still in a very quiet voice. However, he found that it was much easier to speak to Scorpius now for some reason. "Uh, do you think you'll be in Slytherin?"

"That's a very good possibility," Scorpius replied. "I'm very much like my father. But my mother thinks I might be sorted into Ravenclaw. Personally, I don't mind either way. And just so you know, James, who I am assuming is your older brother, and your Uncle Ron aren't completely way off base in their opinions about Slytherin. Slytherin tends to house more aggressive and arrogant pricks than the other houses, but they're not all bad. As for my family, they did some bad and some stupid things during the War. But they've changed a lot since then, and we're paying for it regardless."

"We?" Albus said questioningly, not sure how they went from sorting to the War.

"Long story, lots of 'em," Scorpius replied.

"Oh," Albus sensed that Scorpius didn't want to talk about it. So, he didn't say anything more about it. "Maybe Slytherin wouldn't be so bad a place to be though, if you were there too."

"You won't be placed in Slytherin," Scorpius said this with both a smile and absolute certainty.

"How do you know?" Albus asked.

"You're way too honest," Scorpius answered. "Not to mention how shy and open you are. I'd guess Hufflepuff. But coming here on your own was probably pretty brave for you, so maybe Gryfindor."

"The way you're talking it's like we have no chance to be in the same house," Albus commented, almost poutingly.

"Not very likely," Scorpius confirmed.

"But I want us to be in the same house as you," Albus protested.

"The Sorting Hat doesn't choose our friends for us," Scorpius stated, and suddenly, Albus found himself sitting in stunned, confused silence. He already knew that, but what did Scorpius mean when he said it? He was about to ask, but the compartment door slammed open, and his cousin stepped in.

"What are you doing here?" Rose practically shouted at Albus, causing his eyes to go as wide as dinner plates. "You've been gone for over half an hour, and I couldn't imagine you talking to anyone on your own for that long. I was getting a bit worried, so I went looking for you. Why did I find you with him?" She pointed toward Scorpius on the last word, actually it was more of a violent jab and when combined with her words, it became an incredibly rude gesture.

"This is someone I was talking about Rosie," Albus replied as he stood up, so he could grab her hand and pull it down so it was no longer pointing toward the blonde. "And he has a name. It's Scorpius. Now tell me why you're acting like I was having afternoon tea with a bunch of Death Eaters." As Albus spoke to his cousin, Scorpius noticed that the black-haired boy spoke in a much louder voice around her, making him wonder if Albus's volume was directly proportional to how long he knew a person or if it was more applicable to how comfortable he was around a person. He was hardly paying attention to the Weasley girl's words. He had know some would still hold old war grudges against his family.

"Because you might as well have been," Rose shouted, her free hand waving wildly about. "His name is Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy. MALFOY! He comes from a family of Death Eaters!" Oh! Albus understood his cousin's apprehension now and why Scorpius had spoken of his family that way. But as far as he was concerned, the War had ended long before he was born and so had the interfamily feuds. His father barely ever spoke of the War, but when he did, Harry always said he had forgiven a lot of former Death Eaters and never blamed any of the children for their parents' mistakes. It had been a very dark time, and everyone had their reasons. Everyone had been doing their best to survive. On the other hand, Uncle Ron was always preaching on how evil the Malfoys were.

"He comes from a long line of evil," Rose continued to spit out hatefully, regardless of the fact that Scorpius was right there. "He's probably just like them."

"There's nothing wrong with Scorpius," Albus said. He didn't shout like Rose had, but his voice was somewhat loud and extremely firm. "And his family is not evil." From her expression, it was obvious that Rose Weasley did not agree. Sighing, the girl just shook her head and began pulling Albus out of the compartment.

"Come on Alby," she said in a voice that suggested her cousin was lost and confused. "Let's go back. You can meet two really nice girls who came in while you were gone."

Before Albus could start protesting like she knew he wanted to, Rose tugged on his hand harder and basically yanked him out of Scorpius's compartment. Both eleven-year-olds had stubbornness in their genetic make-up, but Rose's were showing more power at that point. As he struggled fruitlessly, the green-eyed boy looked back at Scorpius to try and apologize, but his words caught in his throat at the inexplicable stare he was receiving from Scorpius. The blonde boy said, "Remember the last thing I said, Potter."

And then, Scorpius was out of his line of sight. Rose continued to drag him unrelentingly across the train until they were back in their original compartment sitting across from tso girls Albus had never seen before. They both had blonde hair, brown eyes, and almost identical facial features, but Albus could easily tell them apart. Because when you live in a family full of cousins who look almost exactly alike from far away, you learn to distinguish minute facial features.

"Hi, I Hannah Halibel," said the one on the left with a bright smile.

"And I'm Holly Hallibel," said the one on the right with an equally bright smile. For a few moments, Albus honestly considered ignoring them, because Rose had brought him to meet them, and he was very mad at Rose. But the seemed very nice, and he wasn't mad at them. Plus, this seemed the best way to make at least a couple of friends at Hogwarts, seeing as he was highly unlikely to approach anyone himself. Being so shy definitely limited one's friend-making options.

Anyway, he forced his mouth into a very small smile, the largest he could without making it look like a grimace. After all, he was mad at Rose and horrible at hiding his emotions. In a very small voice, he replied, "I'm Albus."

"Oh, we've got ourselves a shy one," Hannah said, sounding positively thrilled. This confused Albus until Holly commented, "Shy ones are always the best listeners."

Then, the two began talking a mile a minute, but it was very clear that they were talking to the cousins and not just amongst themselves. Rose soon joined them, and very occasionally, Albus would comment on something, in a quiet voice of course and almost never on something Rose said. This was the way the four first years spent the remainder of their first ride on the Hogwarts Express.

The four exited the train together upon its arrival at the school. They bypassed the school carriages and headed straight to the lake, because Rose and Albus already knew exactly what to expect. In fact, they were less than thirty feet away from Hagrid when they heard, the first call of, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!'

"Uncle Hagrid!" Both Albus and Rose called out happily as they ran over and each attached themselves to one of his very large legs."

"Well, if it inn't little Rosie and Al," Hagrid said grinning. "I been excited to see yeh two here for a while now."

"This is Hannah and Holly," Rose said as she detached herself from Hagrid and pointed to each girl in turn. After a swift exchange of pleasantries, the gamekeeper went back to duties, and Albus detached himself from Hagrid as well. During the boat ride, they continued their earlier line of conversation and continued chatter until they reached the doors that entered into the Great Hall.

"Hello," a dreamy voice floated down to them, and all the first year students looked to their right to see a witch approaching who had very long blonde hair and wore a rather vacant expression on her face. "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Luna Lovegood, Deputy Headmistress, Charms teacher, and Head of Ravenclaw House. You're about to be sorted, and I assure you that this process is as painless as finding knargles in mistletoe. While here, your house will be like your family. Good behavior will earn house points, and rule breaking will do the opposite. Hmm…there was more I was supposed to tell you, but I'm sure you'll be able to figure out everything else with the older students' help. So, let's go."

She opened the Great Hall doors and beckoned the gaping line of first years inside. They trooped down the center aisle, following their new deputy headmistress until she held up her hand for them to stop. Then, she went to stand next to the stool with an old, worn out hat on it. Everyone just stared for a few moments until the hat burst into song.

"_Every year I sit here_

_To fulfill a certain task_

_I know where you fit best_

_But how do I? You'll ask_

_I was created long ago_

_By Hogwarts founders four_

_Before I sit upon your heads_

_I shall certainly tell you more_

_Those who reside in Gryffindor_

_Are brave, bold, and daring_

_Blessed with chivalrous hearts_

_Stubborn, hard-headed but caring_

_Those who belong in Slytherin_

_Truly are quite cunning_

_Most ambitions of the four by far_

_And their shrewdness is quite stunning_

_Those who become Ravenclaws_

_Have brains that are brightest_

_Cleverness, wit is their game_

_Their intelligence never rests_

_All the rest are Hufflepuffs_

_You'll never find more loyal friends_

_Just, patient, and hard-working_

_Again, friends until the end_

_Now come on up here_

_And I'll poke around your head_

_And before long, I will tell you_

_In which house lays your bed."_

After it was finished, the hall erupted with applause, and Luna pulled a scroll of parchment seemingly out of nowhere. She unrolled the parchment, picked up the had, and called out, "Albigore, Particia."

After a few minutes, the Sorting Hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" The sorting had begun.

As interesting as a singing, thinking hat was, the whole sorting ceremony seemed rather long to Albus. It wasn't all that interesting to see complete strangers sorted into houses that were also full of complete strangers. Although, there was one moment of hilarity when both twins raced forward at the first calling of their last name and ended up bumping into each other then falling into in a tangled heap of arms and legs on the floor. After they managed to get up and dust themselves off, they were both sorted within the next minute. The hat only had to sit on their heads for a second or two before shouting, "GRYFFINDOR!" for each twin in turn.

He was glad they were together, and if he was in Gryffindor like Scorpius thought he might be, at least he'd have a few friends there. But still, he wanted nothing more than to be placed into the same house as Scorpius, because that would be the best, easiest way to be able to spend lots of time with his new friend. At least, he thought they were friends. Until Rose had come to the compartment, he had seemed more than willing.

"Malfoy, Scorpius." When Luna called Scorpius's name, Albus was startled out of his thoughts, the whole hall filled with silence. For this Albus was grateful, because he didn't have to tune out those annoying whispers as he watched very closely while the hat deliberated. It was the longest fifteen seconds of Albus's life before the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" and that table erupted into cheers and applause.

Then, the black-haired boy felt his heart sink. Scorpius had pretty much guaranteed him that he wouldn't be in Slytherin, but he hadn't been sorted yet. There was still a chance to be in the same hat. After all, his dad had said that the hat takes one's choice into account. When his name was called, Albus raced up there, crammed the hat on his head, and thought, 'Slytherin, Slytherin. Please put me in Slytherin.'

'_Another Potter, eh?'_ the hat said in his head, sort of ignoring Albus's plea. _'I would have loved to put your father in Slytherin, but you're not very much like him. You wouldn't do well in Slytherin. Definitely Hufflepuff. You're quite loyal and honest, and very shy. But you're rather stubborn as well, a bit lazy too. So, that's not a perfect fit.'_

'Scorpius said you might put me there,' Albus grumbled. 'But I wanna be in Slytherin.'

'_Ah, I see,'_ the hat commented. _'You want to be in the same house as that Malfoy boy. Well, he was right, you know. You're just not Slytherin material.'_

'I don't care if I won't fit in!' Albus protested stubbornly. 'I want to spend as to spend as much time with him as I can.'

'_I don't choose your friends for you, young Potter,'_ the hat sighed. Could hats sigh? Albus didn't know, but he didn't care about that right then.

'Scorpius said that too,' Albus was back to grumling.

'_Hmm,' _the hat said. _'He's rather smart. Maybe I should have given Ravenclaw more consideration with him, but I am rather accurate with the sorting. That's how I was made after all.'_

'Forget about that,' Albus called the hat out of its reverie. 'You already sorted him. Now, you have to place me. And I know you don't decide our friends, but you do decide where it's okay for us to spend most of our free time aka which common room we'll be sitting in every night, and I want to spend my free time with Scorpius!'

'_And to that, you're willing to do almost anything,'_ the hat stated with overwhelming certainty. _'Including spending seven years in a house you don't belong, including arguing with me.'_

'Obviously,' Albus shot back defiantly.

'_You can be brave when it counts,'_ the hat mused, and Albus got the distinct impression that his feelings were being ignored again. _'This school needs more people like you, young Potter. I hope you make waves. I've decided,'_ "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers, and Albus hopped off the stool to head over there. He sat down between the twins, who had kindly made room for him between themselves and pouted silently for the rest of the sorting ceremony and all throughout the rest of the meal.

Rose was placed in Ravenclaw, and while the twins clapped loudly on either side of him, Albus remained stonily silently with his hands staying firmly where they were in his crossed arms. Fortunately, no one noticed that he wasn't clapping for his cousin. Otherwise, he would have been on the receiving end of many awkward questions. Anyway, he stayed with Hannah and Holly until it was time to go to bed. Once in his dormitory, Albus noticed that no one else had come up yet, which was both lucky and not. There was no one to feel shy and uncomfortable around but also no opportunities to make a new friend or two. Sighing, Albus put on his night clothes and went to bed.

Predictably, he was the first of his roommates to awaken the next morning, and when he did, his stomach was growling. Quickly changing into his school robes, Albus raced down to the Great Hall. Once there, he eyes scanned the tables searching for someone to sit next to. He didn't see his brothers or the twins at the Gryffindor table, which was perfectly understandable seeing as it was still fairly early. There weren't too many people eating breakfast yet, and the black-haired boy couldn't find any of his many cousins at any table.

Eventually, his eyes spotted Rose, but he was still mad at her and didn't want to sit next to her. Finally, he eyed the Slytherin table and, to his immense relief, saw Scorpius sitting there. The blonde was already surrounded by a few people, but there was an unoccupied space directly on his right that was big enough for Albus. As he began walking over, his eyes made contact with Rose's for a moment, and she gestured to an empty space next to ther. However, he sent a glare her way, and then, ignoring her and the curious glances of people who noticed he obviously wasn't going to the Gryffindor table, sat down right next to Scorpius.

A/N: Hello and welcome to the end of the first chapter of Return, Rebirth Redemption. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please be aware that most chapters might be shorter than this one. Everything in this chapter just so happened to very important for the foundation of this fanfiction.

Also, I love reviewers, but I do have a request. I would really love for someone to seriously critique my work. It doesn't have to stop at constructive criticism. I'd love for someone to really pick apart my work and tell me every little thing they hated, what needs to be improved, and what parts of my writing they liked best. Believe me when I say I love all reviews, and it's really nice to know people appreciate my work. However, I'm a far cry from being perfect, and there's always room to improve. Also, if I can get better, I can give better fan fiction to my readers. Anyway, thanks again for reading this fan fiction and hopefully you seriously considered my request.


	2. Facing the Inevitable

Chapter 2: Facing the Inevitable

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters or affiliated books, movies, games, etc. The creator and copyright holder of Harry Potter, to the best of my knowledge, is J.K. Rowling. However, this story's plot is my original idea as are the original characters, so no stealing, taking, copying, borrowing, etc.

Scorpius had not been sure what sort of welcome he'd receive at the Slytherin table, but he was pleasantly surprised that at least a few of his fellow housemates were pleased with the Sorting Hat's choice and others were waiting to find out what he was like before judging. Of course, plenty had already decided to hate him. So, he slid gracefully onto the bench and immediately began talking to everyone around him, instinctively taking note of those he would be able to establish an actual friendship with, those who could be manipulated, and those he eventually have to mark as enemies. This was a skill the blonde had mastered early in life due to unfortunate necessity.

He was only vaguely aware that the Sorting Ceremony was going on, because he knew that ingratiating himself with his housemates would be one of the most important things he would do at Hogwarts. No matter what path his school life took, he would need allies. And as soon as he heard Albus being sorted into Gryffindor like he had predicted, Scorpius ignored the rest of the Sorting Ceremony entirely. Dinner passed without much incident, but his evening on the whole was far from boring. It all began on the way to the Slytherin dorms.

"MALFOY!" a voiced shouted from behind. All the first years stopped and turned around to see a fellow Slytherin, probably a third-year, stalking toward them. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, leaving Scorpius alone in the center. As the third year came closer, the blonde examined his would be opponent. After a few moments, Scorpius decided that he was stupid and violent but harmless.

The third year aimed some sort of curse at him, but Scorpius was more than ready and easily blocked it with a simple shield charm. Then, he immediately followed through with a body bind curse.

Tension was thick in the air as everyone watched this quick exchange and waited with baited breath to see what the Malfoy heir would do next. Knowing that they were expecting more annoyed Scorpius, but he merely stashed his wand back inside his robes. The spell would wear off soon enough, and the third year had learned that he was not an easy target. For Scorpius, that was more than enough.

"Let's get moving," the prefect said after a few more minutes of stagnant silence, acting as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Scorpius was the first one to move, but the other first years quickly followed. And he didn't need to see it, but Scorpius already knew that his fellow first years were staring at him with something akin to hero worship. True, he didn't relish the attention, but there were far worse feelings he could have inspired in them. So, he'd just live with it, though the incident had pretty much killed the friendship idea. After all, hero worship was far from conducive to forming true friendships.

When he retired to bed that night, Scorpius was feeling, despite the fact that most of the world hated his family, secure with his position in the Slytherin house. By that time, word of the incident in the hallway had spread all throughout the house. As the currently most interesting person in the common room, Scorpius had been constantly surrounded by people asking him what had happened and quickly learned that vast attention formed from positive feelings was just as annoying as vast attention formed from negative feelings.

"Hey, why did you let him off so lightly?" No one was sure who exactly had asked the question, but it was the one everyone wanted to know the answer to. Scorpius felt his earlier annoyance come roaring back, but he let the feeling wash over him and dissipate before answering.

"Well," he said with the most charming smile he could muster. "He was no longer a threat, and I generally don't find pleasure in other's pain. He now knows that I'm not an easy target and probably won't be trying anything else that stupid anytime soon. Crisis averted. Point made. End of story."

"Good man!" said the boy nearest him in a loud voice while clapping him on the shoulder. He was one of the older students, at least a sixth year, and Scorpius had no idea who the hell this person was. But the guy kept talking. "I wasn't sure what to make of you at first Malfoy, but it's quite obvious that you're no Death Eater, unlike your dad and grandpa."

"Thank you," the blonde said mechanically, because he knew that those words were meant to be a compliment. They were only half right, and it pissed him off when people talked badly about his father. However, it was still the first day of school, and he had to stay on these people's good side. So, he bit back his angry, insulting retort and just kept smiling.

"No problem," the boy said. "The name's Chase Parkinson, by the way. Let me know if anyone else bothers you. I'll teach them to mess with my little buddies."

"Sure," Scorpius said, again biting back his words. Hadn't he just proven he could take care of himself? Whatever. It didn't matter. An ally was an ally, and it was obvious from the new attention the conversation had garnered that, even though Chase was a bit of an idiot, his approval was important and worth having.

After that little exchange, Scorpius allowed himself to be dragged through a few more conversations before claiming he was tired and headed off to bed. It had been a long time since he went to bed before nine, but he figured it was the only way to politely get away from the most boring round of conversation had had been a part of in a long time. A few minutes after he was settled under the covers with the bed curtains closed, he heard a commotion outside. It was other male first years arguing over who would get to stay in his dorm. Figuring that they could work it out amongst themselves, he rolled over and went to sleep.

When Scorpius awoke the next morning, he found, to his horror, en pairs of eyes staring at him from the foot of his bed. Apparently, these first years hadn't been able to decided who would get to sleep in his dorm and had decided to let him choose in the morning. Groaning in frustration, the blonde rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. It was way too early in the morning for such nonsense. These kids were worse than Albus, thinking that houses and dormitories dictated everything.

After taking a few more minutes to wake up in peace, he walked back out to where they were all still waiting. Their eager faces did nothing more than annoy Scorpius. His grey eyes searched theirs, and he found one first year who was still there for no other reason than to annoy the others. He could tell because the first year's expression had momentarily morphed into a mischievous grin. That was the first dormmate the blonde chose.

Unfortunately, the rest of them were genuinely hoping to be his newest bosom buddies. Sighing, he looked among them again and pointed to the four that were least eager and sent the rest of them to the empty first year dorm he knew would be down the hall. As the four nameless eager dormmates were having a mini-celebration, Scorpius grabbed the arm of the mischievous one and dragged him down to the Great Hall for breakfast. There were maybe a dozen people at each table. He sat down at a completely empty portion of the Slytherin table, pulled the other first year down on his left and told him to stay put.

"Dude," the other boy said indignantly. "I'm not one of your adoring fans."

"I am well aware of that," Scorpius replied as he began scraping some eggs onto his plate. "That is the only reason I dragged you down here with me. And you're not moving."

"Whatever," the guy said, shrugging in an uncaring way. "By the way, the name's Sven Stickle." Scorpius merely nodded in acknowledgement and continued piling breakfast onto his plate. Sven stared at him for a few minutes and seemed to decide that he didn't really care whether the blonde acknowledged his presence, because he stayed exactly where Scorpius had put him. As people started slowly filing in, the table easily filled up around the two, but Scorpius kept the seat to his right empty, claiming that he saw saving it for somebody. He was, but that wasn't the only reason. The blonde really didn't feel like dealing with anyone claiming to be his new right hand man, and Scorpius didn't want someone like Chase Parkinson claiming him as their new right hand man. That's why he had Sven sitting on his left. Those who mattered would understand his unspoken statement.

A little while later, Scorpius heard confused whispers and soft steps coming up behind him. He knew who it was and said nothing as Albus sat down next to him. The blonde hadn't been sure the young Potter would come over, but he was immensely glad he had left the seat open. His fellow Slytherins seemed shell-shocked for a few moments, but very soon, their surprised expressions morphed into glares that were aimed at the Gryffindor. The blonde knew that Albus could sense that the people around them were glaring at him for reasons beyond general dislike and rivalry between houses. Before Albus could contemplate leaving, Scorpius smiled slightly and pushed a plate of not quite Belgium waffles toward his friend, and said, "I've been waiting for you. And you should try these, they're really good."

"Thanks," Albus said brightly as relief washed over him. He really had been worried that he made the wrong decision for a few moments. He grabbed two waffles, slathered them with butter and syrup, and dug in. Scorpius waited a few minutes, letting Albus eat in peace, before introducing the black-haired boy to the Slytherins nearest him. Albus smiled shyly and said hi or good morning to each of them, but nothing else.

"So, you like the waffles?" Scorpius asked and couldn't resist chuckling when Albus nodded emphatically. Breakfast continued quietly, Scorpius resuming his conversation with Albus, the one that didn't require the Gryffindor to respond with more than one or two words. Breakfast was almost over before someone finally decided to comment on it.

"Hey Potter," a fifth year who was sitting almost directly across from them called out. "Why don't you talk?"

"I'm shy," Albus said, suddenly very quiet with so much attention on him. It would also be obvious to those who looked that he was attempting to shrink into nothingness.

"Painfully shy," Scorpius said with a grin while patting him on the back. "But don't hold that or the fact that he's a Gryffindor against him. He's actually really nice. And he's my friend." When he spoke that last sentence, he smiled coldly at everyone around him and let them be clear that there was an underlying threat and promise in those words. Fortunately, Albus didn't notice, and those words were all it took for the Slytherins to grudgingly accept that a certain Gryffindor would be spending a lot of time with them. Unfortunately for Albus, Slytherin was only one of, and the most hate of, all four houses.

September 1st had fallen on a Friday that year, so Hogwarts students had an entire weekend to enjoy before classes started on Monday. After Saturday morning breakfast at the Slytherin tales, Albus spent almost the entire weekend with Scorpius and the blonde's ever present posse. The young Gryffindor wasn't sure why Scorpius kept them around when all they seemed to do was annoy him. However, Albus never asked, figuring his friend had his reasons.

When Albus wasn't with Scorpius, he was in his house common room or holed up in his dormitory. People talked to him at first, but he was still too shy to say more than few words at a time. However, none of them were as perceptive as Scorpius, and eventually, no one but Slytherins would talk to him. Word had spread like wildfire through the castle, and rumor said that Albus Potter thought he was too good to associate with other houses. In other words, for the first time in a very, very long time, a Gryffindor had been stereotyped as a Slytherin. And poor, shy little Albus hadn't even noticed that three-fourths of the school hated him.

The Slytherins who were forced to spend time with Albus due to Scorpius's influence actually became fond of the shy Gryffindor rather quickly. So long as one took the time and effort, it was extremely obvious that the black-haired boy was an extraordinarily loveable person. But most people in the school were content to believe that the newest Potter to attend Hogwarts was extremely arrogant with a bloated ego to match. And by the time word of these rumors reached his family's ears, nothing of his cousins could say would change those people's minds.

The Monday that marked the start of their classes, Albus found himself being forcefully dragged out of bed long before he was fully awake. A familiar voice told him to hurry up and get ready as its owner pushed him toward the bathroom. Albus grumbled under his breath about annoying older brothers but began rushing his breath about annoying older brothers but began brushing his teeth anyway. Within minutes, the black-haired boy had pulled on his robes and was being dragged toward the Great Hall by James.

"You're sitting at the Gryffindor table this morning for breakfast," James stated, not for a moment letting go of his younger brother's wrist. His tone was as commanding a twelve-year-old could make it. "Why you're so chummy with a Malfoy, of all people, I don't know, but you need to stop alienating every student who isn't a Slytherin. They all hate you. We can't go back in time, regrettably. But we can do damage control."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Albus said as he struggled to get away. He hadn't really registered what James had really said, but he knew he didn't like it when James tried to order him around. "And I want to sit with Scorpius."

"No," James growled, and that was the end of the conversation because they had reached a more populated corridor, and Albus clammed up.

When they reached the Great Hall, Albus resumed his silent useless struggle until the two brothers wee at their house table. Giving up, the black-haired boy glanced up and won the table, found the Halibel twins, wrenched his arm out of a distracted James's grip, and marched over to sit between his friends. They happily moved aside for him. Before he sat down, Albus caught Scorpius's eye and smiled apologetically. The blonde shrugged and waved his hand carelessly to say it was okay. But Albus still noticed the empty seat on Scorpius's right hand side.

"So," Hannah said as soon as Albus sat down fully. "What's Scorpius Malfoy like?"

"Really nice," he answered with a small smile. Absentmindedly, he pulled food off a nearby plate, and his heart felt a pang of guilt when he noticed that it was a not quite Belgium waffle.

"What about the other Slytherins?" Hannah continued.

"They're okay," he said honestly. Other than Scorpius, he really didn't know them well enough, but a few of them had seemed nice enough. They had honestly seemed to like him.

"And has Scorpius figured out how to have an actual conversation with you?" Hannah asked with extremely curious eyes.

"Course," was Albus's short reply.

"When did he figure it out?" Hannah persisted. "How long did it take him?"

The first question was not one he was willing to answer as it would take the explaining of a story he was not yet willing to share. Luckily, the answer to the second would be enough of an answer for both. So, he said, "Couple minutes."

"He's rather observant then," Hannah commented. "Not that it takes too long to figure out that you're shy. Sorry, Albus, but it is rather obvious. But it take more to understand that you're more than capable of carrying a conversation so long as you don't have to say more than a few words at a time." She was about to stay more but was cut off by her own squeak. Holly had reached around Albus and poked her twin in the side. She hadn't poked her very hard, but Hannah was extremely, extremely ticklish.

As the two started bickering over his head, Albus finally got to start eating his breakfast. He would've avoided the waffles, still feeling a bit guilty, but they were very tasty, and he couldn't help himself. It was when he was slathering his third waffle with syrup when he felt them, the glares. He was afraid to look around, but he was well aware that they were coming from all directions, even his own table. Confused, Albus's mind finally registered James's earlier words.

"…_you need to stop alienating every student who isn't a Slytherin. They all hate you."_

So, they were glaring because they hated him? But why? What had he done to anger them so much? He couldn't recall doing anything bad. He always answered as much as he was able when people talked to him. Due to his shyness, it wasn't much, but he always responded. And every member of his family would tell you that Albus really didn't have a single mean bone in his body. Stubborn, yes. Short-tempered, very occasionally. But never ever intentionally malicious.

Either way, none of that changed the fact that a small legion of wizards and witches in training glaring at him. So, he shrunk back a little more than normal and finished eating in silence. Albus didn't even have the heart to respond when Hannah and Holly began talking to them again. They were worried about him, but any courage Albus might have had already gone up in flames.

Obviously, breakfast ended on a quiet note for the three first year Gryffindors. Their new Head of House, Angelina Johnson, called the students in descending year alphabetical order to hand out their new school schedules. Seventh years, then sixth, then fifth, and so on. Finally, only the first years were left. As they got their schedules, the Gryffindors began heading off to class in their little, premade groups. A few people called to Hannah and Holly to join them, but the twins shooed their new friends along and waited for Albus.

When he got his schedule, the black-haired boy was thrilled to see that he had two separate subjects with Slytherins and that he would be in at least one class period with Scorpius each day. He wasn't so excited that he had a class with Rose later in the day, because he was still miffed at her. However, he grudgingly admitted to himself that he would be glad to have her there later in the year. Because he knew himself well enough that he wouldn't stay mad at her for very long and their shared subject was his worst. Anyway, he quickly joined up with twins after getting his schedule, and they headed off to their first class.

First Year Gryffindor's Weekly Schedule

**_Monday_**

_9:00 AM Transfiguration_

_10:30AM Charms_

_1:00 PM Potions (Double with Slytherin)_

_3:00 PM Defense Against the Dark Arts (Double with Ravenclaw)_

**_Tuesday_**

_9:00 AM Flying (Double with Slytherin)_

_10: 30 AM History of Magic_

_1:00 PM Herbology (Double with Hufflepuff)_

_10:00 PM Astronomy_

**_Wednesday_**

_9:00 AM Transfiguration_

_10:30AM Charms_

_1:00 PM Potions (Double with Slytherin)_

_3:00 PM Defense Against the Dark Arts (Double with Ravenclaw)_

_5:00 PM Herbology (Double with Hufflepuff)_

**_Thursday_**

_9:00 AM Flying (Double with Slytherin)_

_10: 30 AM History of Magic_

_1:00 PM Herbology (Double with Hufflepuff)_

_10:00 PM Astronomy (Double with Hufflepuff)_

**_Friday_**

_9:00 AM Transfiguration_

_10:30AM Charms_

_1:00 PM Potions (Double with Slytherin)_

_3:00 PM Defense Against the Dark Arts (Double with Ravenclaw)_

It happened in the hallway from he prying eyes of the teachers but within clear view of one of his many cousins. Albus and the twins were happily chatting in the hallway about halfway to the Transfiguration classroom when Albus collided with something and landed on the ground hard. There was no cliché scatter of all his possessions because they were safely housed in his bag, but there was a sharp pain in his rear end. Looking up that he had bumped into someone else, and it was obvious from the other's smirking expression that it was done of purpose.

As the twins helped him off the ground, Albus only sighed. He already knew that these were some of the people who had been glaring at him during breakfast. But he didn't know what they hated him for, and his supposed courage never popped up when he needed it during situations like these. So, he figured he would just have to get used to being bullied like this. After all, it was a lot less unpleasant than other ways. His assumption was confirmed when the guy who had bumped into him spoke, "Hey Potter. You're nothing special, and since you seem so convinced that you're better than everyone else, we're going to give you constant reminders."

"Leave him alone!" Hannah instantly jumped to Albus's defense, despite the fact her would be opponent was at least five years older than her. However, Albus was now standing on his own and motioned for her to stop. She stared at him with a confused expression, but he just said, "Just ignore them."

With that, Albus began walking away, and the twins moved to follow. But the sixth-year bullies weren't satisfied with that, and neither was Louis. Albus's thirteen-year-old cousin was an imposing presence, even to those older than him, because had hit puberty early for a boy and had done serious weight-lifting for years due to an aspiration to become a professional beater. He had become a beater for the Gryffindor team in his second year. Anyway, as the group of sixth years moved to go after the first years, Louis did as well, quickly becoming a solid human wall between the two groups.

"What do you want Weasley?" the original instigator sneered at Louis. He acted like he wasn't afraid, but it was quite obvious that it was just that, an act.

"I'm giving you one warning to you and your friends David Stewart," Louis said cracking his knuckles threateningly. "Leave Albus alone, or you'll have to deal with me. Never let me see you touch him again, or you'll regret it. And remember, this isn't a threat, it's a promise."

"Whatever," the guy now known as David said with a shrug and left with his friends.

"I appreciate the thought," Albus said once the four of them were alone. "But I wish you hadn't done that."

"Why?" Louis asked looking incredulous. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that Albus liked being bullied, but he couldn't understand why his cousin had said that. But instead of offering an explanation, Albus just shook his head with a small sigh and headed for the Transfiguration classroom once more, the twins following close behind.

A/N: And here are at the end of Chapter 2 of Return, Rebirth, Redemption. Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter as well. To those of you who like Albus, I'm sorry, but it's necessary. Obviously, this chapter isn't as long as the last but about 1000 words shorter.

Also, I love reviewers, but I do have a request. I would really love for someone to seriously critique my work. It doesn't have to stop at constructive criticism. I'd love for someone to really pick apart my work and tell me every little thing they hated, what needs to be improved, and what parts of my writing they liked best. Believe me when I say I love all reviews, and it's really nice to know people appreciate my work. However, I'm a far cry from being perfect, and there's always room to improve. Also, if I can get better, I can give better fan fiction to my readers. Anyway, thanks again for reading this fan fiction and hopefully you seriously considered my request.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 : What Goes Around

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters or affiliated books, movies, games, etc. The creator and copyright holder of Harry Potter, to the best of my knowledge, is J.K. Rowling. However, this story's plot is my original idea as are the original characters, so no stealing, taking, copying, borrowing, etc.

The school day progressed much as Albus had expected. It was quiet for the most part, and no one had confronted him the way Stewart had. Of course, lots of people still hated him; they were just smarter than to threaten him directly. So, most settled with glares, stares, gossiping, 'accidentally' bumping into him but not stopping to apologize, and other such juvenile bullying tactics. Being shy but not weak of spirit, none of this truly bothered Albus, but he was worried. True though it was that Louis (and every other member of his family) would defend him if they saw him in trouble, they couldn't be with him all the time. What worried Albus was what could, and probably would, happen when he was alone.

Despite James's best efforts to ingratiate Albus with Gryffindors who weren't family or the twins, the black-haired boy wasn't any less hated by any of his housemates, and after two meals, he'd had enough. So, he evaded his elder brother's clutches and marched straight over to the Slytherin table to sit next to Scorpius. His friend always kept a space to the right empty, even if Albus didn't end up sitting there for a meal. Fortunately, the blonde already commanded enough respect and admiration that no one ever complained about this. Albus had a feeling that it had something to do with the loud, annoying seventh year that was always seeking Scorpius out, but he wasn't about to object much about the presence of someone who helped to ensure a seat was always available for him next to his best friend. Unfortunately, he didn't notice a certain sixth year sit down next to a certain group of first years as he made his way across the Great Hall. However, someone else did.

As usual, Albus spent an enjoyable meal at the Slytherin table, conversing quietly in his one-word answer way with Scorpius, Sven, and maybe one or two other people. He stayed there longer than normal, turning his attention away from the table just once to agree to meet the twins in the Gryffindor common room the following morning before breakfast. The Great Hall was completely empty long before Scorpius, Sven, and Albus left that night, almost dangerously close to curfew. The two Slytherins walked their friend to the Fat Lady's portrait before heading down to the dungeons themselves.

The common room was still pretty full of people when Albus arrived, but he couldn't see James, Hannah, Holly, or any of his cousins. So, he headed up to his own dormitory to turn in early. He had a feeling that he would need all the sleep he could get. However upon entering the room, a surprising sight greeted him. All five of his other dormmates were standing in a close group looking as though they were waiting for something or someone. Possibly him. And that thought chilled him to the bone, because he had had only a few conversations with any of them, and none but the first had been pleasant in nature.

Focusing more of his attention on their facial expressions and eyes in particular, Albus saw a frighteningly unified gleam in their eyes that looked dangerous. Instantly feeling the instinct to flee, Albus turned to get out of the room, but two pairs of hands grabbed him roughly and pulled him in as a third pair forced some sort of potion down his throat. Then, the other hands stared in and feet soon joined them in a relentless onslaught of punches and kicks as brutal and painful as a group of normal eleven-year-old boys could possibly make them. Albus was helpless to do anything but scream out in pan and hope for help to come. But his voice was never very loud to begin with, and he was soon gasping for breath. He had to focus on breathing through pain that should have knocked him out, and that required more concentration than he possessed.

Within just a few short, agonizingly long minutes, Albus was on the ground wishing for unconsciousness more than anything else in the world as his tormentors continued to viciously kick him as hard as they could. But blissful nothingness never came. No, the potion forced down his throat was one created to ensure that he would be wide-awake to feel every moment of pain.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally stopped the beating after making sure that not a single part of his body had survived unscathed. When they had paused for a fair amount of time, one of the boys said, "I think that's enough for him to get the message, don't you?"

Most nodded, and another boy said, "Yeah, you're probably right. But, Potter, remember this, you're not better than everyone else, and your family won't always be there to protect you, kind of like right now."

Then, they all went to bed, and as soon as he was sure they weren't going to get back out, Albus tried to get himself to his own. But he couldn't stand up, sit up, crawl. He couldn't even make his smallest finger move the tiniest little bit. All his strength had left his body, so all he could do was lie there in excruciating pain. And because of the potion still coursing through his body, Albus didn't get a single wink of sleep that night. Even worse was the fact that the pain never dulled to numbness, it only grew worse and worse.

The next morning found Hannah and Holly waking up a bit later than usual, but they still made it to the common room before Albus. This was a bit odd since he had always been an early riser, but they both knew for certain that he wouldn't have gone ahead without them after promising to meet with them. So, they settled in to wait for a bit, but after half an hour had passed, the twins were becoming worried. After another five minutes, they couldn't wait anymore and asked one of the few males left in the common room where the first year boys' dormitories were. Following his instructions, they found Albus's after poking their heads through a few doors and ran toward him in horror at what they saw.

"Oh my god!" Hannah almost shrieked "How badly are you hurt? What happened? Who did this?" She started a rampage of questions, sounding like a quiet banshee, as she knelt down next to him. However, she didn't touch him out of fear of causing more damage. Recognizing much more quickly that their friend could neither move nor speak, Holly took a different approach.

"You stay here in case they come back to do more," she told her sister. "I'm going to get help." Racing away, her mind whirled as she thought of people she could trust to actually help Albus. Obviously, at least one or more Gryffindors had done this. So, she didn't bother looking for help from fellow housemates. As she started down the many staircases, luck was with her. Less than two flights down, she bumped into Scorpius who had decided to meet up with Albus and the twins with the intent of joining the trio for breakfast.

"Slow down," Scorpius said as Holly plowed into him. The only reason they didn't fall was the blonde boy's quick reaction of instantly tightening his leg muscles to make his stance more firm and catching the girl in his arms before she stumbled downwards. "Where's the fire?"

"Oh! It's you. Perfect!" In any other situation, those words would have sounded incredibly sarcastic, but Holly's voice was filled with relief. The only other thing she said was, "It's Albus," and then, she was half-dragging him up the stairs after having grabbed his arm.

It only took a few minutes to get back up the stairs but quite a bit longer to get inside Gryffindor house. The Fat Lady did not want to let Scorpius, a Slytherin, into her house which led to a shouting match between the two females. In typical fashion, both registered the other's volume more than the actual words. Scorpius watched in horrified wonder until his mind managed to filter the volume away and process the words being said. Suddenly much more anxious to get inside, Scorpius slapped a hand over Holly's mouth to silence her.

"Excuse me miss," he said in a gentlemanly voice, addressing the portrait. "I know I'm not one of your house, but our friend is hurt in there. He was hurt by fellow Gryffindors, but we don't know which ones. So, Holly went looking for help and found me. Would you please let us enter?"

"Of course my dear boy," the Fat Lady replied as she swung open. As they walked inside, the two could hear her muttering, "Why didn't she just say so in the first place? Rude girl. Students these days have no manners. Well, at least that boy had some…" Both choosing not to comment on what they had just heard, Holly led the way to Albus's dorm while Scorpius followed.

Upon arrival, grey eyes widened in horror at what they saw. Scorpius had seriously underestimated the extent to which Albus was hurt. As anger erupted inside him, the blonde pushed it aside and knelt down close to his friend. After a fairly quick examination of Albus, Scorpius knew that this was beyond his small range of healing capabilities. But there was one thing he could do for Albus. Pulling out his wand, the blonde muttered a spell, and those brilliant green eyes closed.

"What did you just do?" Hannah asked worriedly. She knew that Albus already trusted Scorpius with his life, but Rose was convinced that Scorpius was sure to follow in his family's footsteps. She was still trying to figure out who was right.

"He was forced to drink a potion that was designed to keep him awake and alert," Scorpius replied. "He's been awake all night unable to escape the pain by falling into unconsciousness. I just did the spell that counteracts the effects of the potion."

"Oh," was Hannah's reply. She watched as Scorpius stood up and cast a hover charm on Albus. Then, they headed out to the Hospital Wing, Scorpius keeping their unconscious friend close and being very careful about keeping Albus from bumping into anything.

Upon entering the Hospital Wing, Scorpius gently placed Albus on the nearest empty bed while the twins ran to the office to fetch the newest Madam Pomfrey, Poppy Pomfrey's granddaughter. She came out asking what was wrong, but the words died on her lips as soon as her eyes landed on Albus's unconscious form. Gasping in horror, she quickly went to work pulling out potions and salves, telling the first years to get Albus out of his school robes, and rushing to his bedside. With the three children's help, Sunny Pomfrey forced a few potions down Albus's throat and rubbed a lotiony mixture on the worst of the bruises. When she was done, Albus only looked to be a tiny bit better.

"That's it?" Hannah asked looking mighty worried.

"These things take time you stupid girl," the nurse said. "Too much too soon or a wrong mix of medicines can make those injuries infinitely worse."

"What are you talking about?" Hannah demanded, flaring up at the stupid comment. However, Scorpius garnered her attention by placing a hand on her shoulder. When she looked back, he shook his head.

"He'll have to be here for at least a few days," Sunny said. "I won't know the true extent of his injuries until at least 24 hours from now. And now, since all of you are late for class, I'll write a note for your teacher. But you must eat something first." With that said, she flicked her wand toward an empty space. A table, three chairs, three goblets, and a plate full of sandwiches appeared. The three first years sort of ran away from her by rushing toward the table to sit and consume their breakfast.

"Who would do such a horrible thing?" Hannah barely whispered as tears gathered in her eyes. There was a sandwich in her hands, but she had yet to take a bite. Silence reigned for several minutes as the other two forced themselves to eat and encouraged the younger twin to do the same. Soon, a light bulb went off in her head, and she gasped, "No! He wouldn't do such a horrible thing, not after what that blonde Weasley said. Would he?"

"Well," Holly replied. "It would make sense. Louis said, 'Never let me see you touch him again, or you'll regret it.' That could have given him ideas like attacking Albus in a place no one would be able to see. Besides, David is the only one who has directly confronted Albus thus far."

"I do believe you are right about him being involved in this," Scorpius commented. "But I don't believe he was the one who physically attacked Albus."

"Why not?" Holly asked.

"Because for all the injuries he got, Albus received no broken bones," the blonde Slytherin answered. "This David Stewart doesn't seem like the type to hold back, and he would have easily broken at least an arm or leg with the kind of beating Albus got. Because of the lack of any broken limbs, I also think this was done by a younger student, most likely a group of students, who were influenced by Stewart. Also, that potion is one of an extremely high level, not one any average student could make. So, the younger students would have had to receive the potion from Stewart or someone else and be told to use it on Albus."

"I don't care who had what part in this," Hannah said angrily. "Every last one of them is going to pay dearly for hurting our little Albus."

"Yes," Scorpius agreed quietly. "Yes, they well." Slightly awkward silence hung in the air for a few moments after that. Because while Hannah was in her own little world, Holly watched Scorpius with her own expression of horrified wonder. She knew he was plotting something and was entirely too afraid to ask what. But she had a fairly accurate guess as to the subject material.

"Aren't you three done eating yet?" Madam Pomfrey's shrill tone broke through the silence, well, more like shattered it, because the three conscious first years began to clatter about putting down their cups, pushing back their chairs, and stuttering out apologies. Walking towards the three of them, she pulled out a note from a pocket hidden somewhere inside of her robes. She held it out, and as Holly took it, she said, "There's your note. Now, off to class with you. And no dilly-dallying in the hallways. If you take too long, I won't be responsible for you three getting detentions."

"Yes, ma'am," they all said and hurried out the door of the hospital wing, but not before several backwards glances at their friend's unconscious form.

"Hey Scorpius," Holly said tentatively. "You're not planning something stupid are you? Like confronting Stewart to find out who did this or just plain confronting him by yourself…are you?"

"No," Scorpius replied with an eerie looking expression. "I'll leave the direct confrontation to his family. There's certainly plenty of them for it, and I know that they're more than likely to do so. Also, I believe Albus will be able to tell us who did it when he awakes. He didn't seem to have too much damage to his head, so he should remember."

"Then, what are you planning?" Holly couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Oh, nothing," Scorpius replied with a secretive smile. Holly shuddered, and Hannah just looked on with a blank expression and confusion in her eyes.

"That's why!" Hannah's exclamation seemed to come out of nowhere, and this time it was Holly's and Scorpius's turn to be confused.

"Where did that come from?" Holly asked her twin. "And what is this sudden realization?"

"I figured out why Albus reacted the way he did during the confrontation yesterday," Hannah answered. "He knew something like this would probably happen. He knew that Stewart would come up with sneakier, harsher 'reminders'. Though, I don't think he expected it so soon."

"That seems like a good assumption," Holly replied. "But how would he know that after a thirty-second exchange?"

"Shy people are often avid observers of human behavior," Scorpius commented as they neared the doors that would take them outside to their flying lesson, which they were more than half an hour late for. "As such, they often become good judges of character, getting a more accurate first impression than others do. So, he knew that Stewart would be encouraged rather than deterred by a threat. Now, let's save the rest of this conversation for another time."

Both of the twins nodded as they stepped outside. It was a sunny day with a slight breeze, perfect conditions to enjoy flying. However, as they neared the practice area, they all realized that the look on their professor's face promised anything but enjoyment. She ordered all the currently hovering first years to return to the ground and turned to glare at the three students who dared to be late to her class.

All three children were instantly afraid of her and halted their steps a good distance away from their teacher. All was silent for a few excruciatingly long and tense moments until Holly gathered her courage and with a look of frightened determination, stepped forward and handed the professor all three notes.

Dear Professor Angelina Weasley,

Scorpius Malfoy, Hannah Halibel, and Holly Halibel are late to class, because their friend, Albus Potter, was very badly injured. They brought him to the Hospital Wing this morning before breakfast. They are late, because they helped me administer treatment and ate breakfast here.

Sincerely,

Madam Sunny Pomfrey

"Well," Angelina said. "At least you three have a good reason for being late. So, I will keep your punishment light. Twelve inches on the three most important safety tips while riding a broomstick. What they are and why they are important. Due next class session. Now, go pick up your brooms and join the lesson."

The rest of the lesson progressed smoothly, and at the end of it, the twins and Scorpius arranged to meet up for lunch to go visit Albus in the Hospital Wing. Even though they knew Albus would eventually make a full recovery, they were still worried about their friend, that class period before lunch was and would be one of the longest of their entire school lives. After what seemed like an eternity, the teachers dismissed the classes, Scorpius, Hannah, and Holly were among the students who were at the front of the race to the Great Hall. However, once the three met up, they fought their way back through the crowd. They ended up catching two certain people's attention and, unbeknownst to the three first years, were followed to the Hospital Wing.

"Hey guys," was the first thing they heard upon entering the Hospital Wing. It was in a voice so quiet that they almost didn't hear it, and every one of them sighed with relief.

"Albus," Hannah cried out with tears in her eyes. "I'm so glad you're awake! You're feeling better now, right?"

"Not really," Albus said as they sat down next to his bed.

"Could you please elaborate on that," Scorpius said. The words sounded like a request, but his tone made it a command. "I know you're still working on being able to talk more than a few words at a time, but this is important."

"If it'll make it easier for you to talk to Scorpius, we can leave," Holly said making her twin glare at her. Hannah was going to protest, but Holly clamped a hand over her twin's mouth to keep her from speaking.

Albus watched his friends for a few moments in silent contemplation before saying, "No. You can stay. I'm still in a lot of pain. By all rights, I should be unconscious, but that potion seriously messed up my 'brain chemistry'. When Scorpius's spell wore off, Madam Pomfrey couldn't give me anything else for fear of messing up my 'brain chemistry' even more."

"What's this 'brain chemistry' that you keep mentioning?" Holly asked.

"Not sure," Albus replied. "Madam Pomfrey tried to explain it. Something about chemicals in the brain and how they make it work right. She said that potion released too many of some such chemical in my brain, and that's why I can't sleep. Like adding too much of an ingredient to a potion and make it explode."

"I guess I kind of understand that," Hannah said. "But I'm still confused. If potions can hurt your brain more, what about Scorpius's spell? Didn't she say anything about that?"

"Yeah, it's amazing and totally safe," he replied. "It doesn't introduce anything new, just calms everything down, sort of puts it to sleep, I guess. She said if you could show her the spell or tell her what potion was used on me last night, it'd help a lot. It's weird that she doesn't recognize either. Say, could you use it on me right now?"

"Of course," Scorpius said. "But first you have to tell us who did this."

"My roommates, all of them," Albus said, his volume going way down. "But they seemed different. I don't think it was their idea. So, don't hurt them too bad."

"Don't worry," Scorpius replied. "I already figured that out. Now, go back to sleep." Then, he whispered the spell, and Albus slipped into unconsciousness once again. After a few moments of silence to ensure Albus would remain asleep, the blonde Slytherin turned his head around and called out, "You can come out now."

A few seconds passed and then, two heads poked up from a nearby bed: Rose Weasley and James Potter. Both of them were very obviously pissed off and foaming at the mouth for revenge for their darling family member. After a few moments, they stalked around the bed they were at and toward Scorpius. Rose spoke first, "I wanna know what happened. Start talking now! Oooh, I knew nothing good would come from Albus associating with you. I just know this is your fault somehow."

"Oh hush up Rosie," Hannah exclaimed. "Scorpius has been nothing but helpful. In fact, he's been extraordinarily helpful. Without him, Albus would be stuck awake and in lots of pain."

"Well, tell us what happened then," James demanded.

"Hannah and Holly can tell you all we know," Scorpius said getting up. "I have to talk with the nurse. Oh, by the way, that sixth year Gryffindor is definitely the one who put them up to this."

"How do you know that?" Holly asked. "We've only been speculating."

"Well, I was already fairly sure of who the culprits were," the Slytherin replied. "But I'll explain later."

With that said, he left the group to talk amongst themselves, not at all looking forward to his own conversation with the school's nurse. Hannah and Holly didn't take long to explain what little they knew about the situation, and James raced off to find Louis and a few of his older cousins. They were going to beat the hell out of David Stewart and any of the guy's friends who stood in their way. He hadn't decided what to do about the first years, but James had a feeling that Rosie would come up with a good idea.

Anyway, it was about fifteen minutes after James had run off that Scorpius came out of Madam Pomfrey's office looking a little worse for wear. That had been one of the most uncomfortable conversations of his life. And the nurse had been quite miffed at him when he left. Desperate to escape further thoughts of said conversation, he looked around and noticed one was missing from their number, "Where's James?"

"He ran off as soon as the twins were done explaining everything," Rose answered. Her tone not nearly as rude as it had been since their initial meeting. Apparently, she was going to give him a chance now. "If I know my cousin, he's going to grab a few family members and go after David Stewart."

"And you didn't try to stop them?" the blonde boy asked incredulously. "Rose Weasley, I thought you were put in Ravenclaw because you're smart."

"What did you say?" the redhead's volume rose greatly with her anger. Scorpius just sighed.

"Where do you think Stewart will end up after your family beats him up?" Scorpius said. "I knew this was coming, but couldn't you have convinced them to hold their tempers for at least a couple of days?" Realization dawned in Rose's eyes, and she smacked her forehead at her own stupidity. Naturally, the injured David Stewart would come to the Hospital Wing, and since they couldn't stay there forever, an unconscious, defenseless Albus would be at the elder Gryffindor's mercy.

"Can't you do some sort of Shield Charm to protect him while we're gone?" Rose asked. "I mean, you're obviously already very advanced for a first year."

"That is true," Scorpius replied. "But I have never learned to cast a conventional Shield Charm. The few shielding spells I do know will not help us, or Albus, in this situation."

"What about Madam Pomfrey?" asked Hannah.

"She, like us, cannot be here 24/7," Rose answered. "And David Stewart and his friends will know Silencing Charms. But she should know a shield spell that will work, and she'd definitely help us protect Albus."

"All Shield Charms can be broken," Scorpius said. "But hopefully your family will end up a bit banged up too. That will give them the perfect excuse to stay here for a little while, enough time for me to prepare something to ensure Albus's safety."

"Well," Rose said. "James'll probably grab Louis and the first two or three cousins he randomly runs into. Most of our older cousins are third and fourth years or girls. They're sure to be going up against at least three sixth years. So, it should be even."

"You're not overestimating your cousins are you?" Hannah asked.

"Louis isn't the only one built like a brick wall," the redhead said with a smile. The conversation might have lasted longer, but it was time for their next lesson.

Meanwhile, James had just finished collecting a small group of Weasley cousins, and they were headed to cut Stewart off on his way to the sixth year Gryffindor-Slytherin double potions lesson. Following James and Louis, there was Molly (a third-year Ravenclaw), Barney (a fourth-year Gryffindor), Dominique (a fifth-year Gryffindor and one of Louis's elder sisters), and Mason (a fourth-year Gryffindor). All had agreed that teaching David Stewart not to mess with their adorable cousin was more important than any class. Despite his shy personality, Albus had always been one of the most loved children by his entire extended family, especially by those in his own generation.

Anyway, the six cousins found David in an empty hallway. The only two other people there were his two best friends: Evilyn Carrow and Gordon Dolohov. Both of whom were infamous trouble-making Slytherins. However, their friendship with David was virtually unknown. It was better for David so that he kept off the teacher's radar, and the two Slytherins didn't mind because the Gryffindor was able to get them out of the really serious trouble by providing intermittent and supposedly unbiased alibis.

The stand off between the two groups lasted for a good while before both sides launched into simultaneous attacks. It was some unspoken rule between them that no wands would be drawn. It gave Stewart's group more satisfaction, and for James's group, it served as a clear warning that they would strike back by whatever means their family had been hurt. So, the fight was just a mass of limbs attempting to do as much physical damage to the opposing side as possible.

The fight was stopped by a teacher who had been patrolling the corridors during her free period. Needless to say, Gabrielle Delacour was far from pleased to see students, members of her own family, in a hallway brawl. She had become Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher because of her respect for Harry Potter. As a prepubescent young girl, she'd had a major crush on him, but she grew out of that eventually. But she never lost her great respect for him. So, when her schooling at Beaxbatons was complete, she moved in with her elder sister and brother-in-law to continue her studies in defense against the dark arts. After all, her newly extended in-law family was full of perfect study material. While in England, she fell in love with the country and decided to stay. When the position for Defense Against the Dark Arts professor reopened at Hogwarts, Gabrielle had applied for and was accepted into the position. She was at Hogwarts because of Harry Potter, and on the second day of classes, she found his son in a fight along with her nephew, niece, and three other Weasley cousins.

"Break it up! Break it up!" she shouted. Most of them stopped, but James and Louis seemed determined to get in a few last punches. "Don't make me pull out my wand."

This was no empty threat. She was not strong physically, but it was well known among her students and family that Gabrielle's wand work was amazing. So, James and Louis instantly halted their movements. The two opposing groups separated, and Gabriele observed the extent of the damage. Everyone was a bit bruised and banged up, but the group of obviously older students had gotten the worst of it. She wasn't surprised. Louis, Barney, and Mason had been working out together for years. Dominique was a vicious little thing, and this entire generation of the Potter-Weasley clan had grown up rough-housing together. So, the vast majority of them were pretty darn tough.

"Aunty Gabrielle," Louis started to speak, but she held up her hand to silence him. She would give no special treatment to any student (especially those who were family members), regardless of the situation.

"All nine of you are to head to the Hospital Wing," she said. "There will be no more fighting amongst you. All of you will remain there until after dinner. I will listen to explanations then. Make sure that they are good ones and truthful. The Bloody Baron will go with you to ensure you all get there safely. Be prepared, because I am going to contact your Heads of Houses to discuss punishments. Now, off you go." With that said, she headed off, and the group of students made their way to the Hospital Wing escorted by the Bloody Baron. None of them tried anything, because they were afraid of their escort and the teacher they had just left behind.

Later, after the next session of classes had ended, a certain blonde Slytherin set about following his plan to keep his best friend safe. Having long since memorized the first year Gryffindor schedule, Scorpius was waiting in the Entrance Hall for them to return from Herbology. When he saw the group of five students who were Albus's roommates, he cast a spell. If any of them ever again wanted to harm Albus, their brain would give him the image of the person they loved most in this world. And if that wasn't enough, any pain they caused him would be reflected in their own bodies, twice as agonizing. He could do a lot worse, but he knew they didn't truly deserve it…if only he could convince Albus's family of that.

Then, he crept up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom where he started a potion and left it stewing. He was almost late to Charms class, but for some reason, Scorpius had a feeling that Professor Lovegood wouldn't have cared a whole lot if he was. She obviously wasn't one for conventional thinking, always doing odd things. Her introduction on their first night at Hogwarts was a perfect example. Not to mention, she had kept her maiden name after marriage and was always talking about odd creatures like crumpled-horned snorkacks. Either way, he made it to class on time, and there was an empty seat waiting for him next to Sven. He was the one first year Slytherin male whom Scorpius was forming a foundation for actual friendship with. And every so often, Sven would do him a favor, like saving a seat not surrounded by admirers. Of course, he didn't do this every class, or even every day. It had only happened thrice so far, because Sven truly did enjoy causing trouble for others.

So, Charms class ended peacefully, and Scorpius headed back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. There was just a bit left to do to complete the potion. He had chosen this one for its ease, convenience, and effect. After it was done, Scorpius poured it into an empty flask. When he reached the Hospital Wing, the blonde Slytherin saw a scene he had been expecting. Albus's family filled a good portion of the Hospital Wing, but some were surrounding his bed, and some were on beds of their own. Scorpius recognized all the Weasleys by sight, if not by name. He also recognized Evilyn Carrow and Gordon Dolohov, so the last injured student had to be David Stewart. Scorpius recognized him as well.

Unfortunately, he drew most of their attention when he walked in. But for what he had planned, he needed to be hidden. So, Scorpius called to Hannah and Holly, and they walked over to the corner he had situated himself in.

"Can I trust you two?" he whispered once they were near enough. "To not tell anyone what I'm about to do?"

"Of course," Hannah said, and Holly nodded her affirmation. So, Scorpius pulled out the flask of potion.

"Don't ask," he said as soon as they saw it. "And tell me about Albus's current condition so no one suspects anything. Even though I don't really care, it will seem normal to all of them that I don't want to get to close to such a large group Potters and Weasleys even if Albus is my best friend." Both twins nodded their agreement and understanding. Then, Hannah started speaking loudly, and Scorpius double-checked to make sure no one would be able to see what he was doing. First, he identified which bottle on each bedside table was filled with pain medication. Then, he switched the contents of his flask with that of the medication bottles on the tables next to the beds of his three intended victims. When he had finished, the twins weren't quite sure what they weren't supposed to ask about. All they had seen was Scorpius wiggling his wand, muttering under his breath, and the potion change color. So, while they stood there confused, the blonde Slytherin let out a sigh of relief, because he had finished just in time.

"Alright you lot," Sunny Pomfrey came crashing out of her office seconds after Scorpius had finished what he was doing. He was quickly learning that Madam Pomfrey was a great healer and cared very much about her students, but she was short-tempered and had a horrible bedside manner. "It's time for all of you to take you pain medication, and remember, this is your last dose. So, drink it all up; drain every last drop in those bottles if you want to avoid a fitful night." So, the nine who had been in the fight drained their bottles. Hannah and Holly watched the three sixth-years expectantly, if only because they knew who Scorpius's targets had been, but nothing seemed to be happening. However, this was a good thing, because it meant that Scorpius had made the potion correctly.

After that, Madam Pomfrey kicked all visitors out. It was dinnertime, and she didn't have the space to feed such a large group of extra children, especially when she had so many patients to take care of now. So, the children left, and the next visitor who came walked in an hour and a half later. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Gabrielle Delacour. She had finished her dinner and headed up to the Hospital Wing right after. Albus had woken up just a few minutes prior and was surprised to see here there.

"Aunty Gabrielle," he said in a shocked tone. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question dear," she replied in a kind voice as she took in his injured state. "Who did this to you?"

"That's the thing," James started to speak to explain everything before Albus had even opened his mouth, but he shut his mouth instantly when Gabrielle glared at him.

"I hadn't forgotten about you or your fight Mr. Potter," the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor said in a severe tone. "After conferring with your Heads of Houses, I have your punishment. 10 points taken away from your respective houses each, and all of you have earned yourself a week's worth of detention. Further punishment is at my discretion."

"But professor," James cried. "Taking points in this situation isn't fair."

"Hush," Gabrielle silenced him. "If punishing your house prevents personal fights in the form of muggle dueling, it proves that such a punishment is a successful one. Now, who is going to tell me…" The rest of what she would have said was cut off as the door to the Hospital Wing opened, and once again, Scorpius drew everyone's attention as he entered the room.

"Uh, Madam Pomfrey sent for me," he said. He could feel that he had walked in at a really awkward moment.

"Right you are," the nurse said from Albus's bedside. She had been trying, rather unsuccessfully, to get the black-haired boy to sleep with a few spells of her own. "And you better get used to it unless you're willing to tell me that spell. Albus needs his rest, and he hasn't been able to get any more than a few hours at a time.

"I know and expected as much," Scorpius replied. "Feel free to keep calling on me. I'll continue coming in until Albus can get the rest he needs on his own." Then, he turned and hid his wand's movements from view as much as possible (he hadn't closed the curtains because he just knew that doing so was sure to garner much more trouble from Sunny Pomfrey than it was worth). He whispered the spell as quietly as possible, and Albus fell back into unconsciousness. Then, something happened that none of them had been expecting.

"Mr. Malfoy, I would like a word with you," the one who had spoken was Gabrielle Delacour. When they all looked at their professor with blank faces, she emphasized her point with one word. "Alone."

Still, Scorpius turned away from Albus's bed, despite his surprise, and nodded. He saw no reason to deny the request especially when it was coming from a professor. She motioned to the door, indicating they were to go out into the hall. She moved; he followed. Once they were out of the Hospital Wing, she led him to a secluded hallway and into an empty classroom. Casting a Silencing Charm on the door just in case, Professor Delacour turned to him with an extraordinarily serious expression on her face.

"Mr. Malfoy," Gabrielle said. "I brought you here to talk alone for a very specific reason. Do you know what that is?"

"Seeing as I can't read your mind, Professor, I can't be entirely sure," Scorpius muttered darkly. "But I'm pretty sure I can hazard a fairly accurate guess."

"I know Dark magic when I see it, Mr. Malfoy," the professor replied, confirming the blonde Slytherin's unspoken guess. "No matter how simple it is. Tell me what spell you have been using on Albus and why you have been using it. I already know you are not using it for the creator's intended purpose."

"You are correct," Scorpius said with a sigh. "But if it's information you want, I will describe the spell, but I will not give you the incantation or the name of the spell. I wouldn't tell Madam Pomfrey either when she interrogated me. I will not be the reason it has a chance to get spread around. If that is not acceptable to you Professor, I will accept punishment."

"I will not put up with that tone from a student, and I do not appreciate the allegations in your words, but I understand," the professor said, her tone was an odd mix of being harsher and softer at the same time. She was annoyed with him, but she was also starting to understand what kind of person Scorpius was. "Your conditions are fine, but you had best be truthful."

"Yes, ma'am," Scorpius responded in a more respectful tone this time. "The spell I used on Albus was originally designed to slow down certain brain chemicals and functions to put the victim in a permanent coma. Albus was force fed a potion that does pretty much the opposite. It speeds up the chemicals in the brain, so the victim is kept awake and alert for an, as of yet, undetermined amount of time. The body's pain center is also modified so that the pain one feels never numbs or dulls. Obviously, the potion was made to assist with torture. No one knows how long the potion truly lasts, because all documents relating to the potions effects have the victim succumbing to the torture and being killed within five days or less. However, a short while ago, I discovered that the spell could be used to counteract the effects of the potion, but the potion will not counteract the effects of the spell. But I'm afraid to use the proper incantation on Albus, so I've been using a prototype that was rejected by the creator. The main reason the prototype was rejected was because it only produces a temporary coma. There's no bad side effects or anything…unless you count me having to redo the spell every few hours."

"You're one hundred percent sure about that are you?" Gabrielle asked. "That there are absolutely no ill side effects for Albus."

"Yes, I'm sure," Scorpius said. "When combined with the effects of the potion, this spell does nothing more than cause temporary unconsciousness. Of course, the will of the user makes quite a difference to the effect as well. Either way, if Albus was going to suffer any ill side effects, he would have done so already. I've used that spell on him three times now."

"What about long-term side effects?" the professor persisted in her questioning.

"There are none," Scorpius answered. He didn't even have to think about this answer. "The creator left many notes behind the problems with that version of the spell. He had exhausted all possibilities during testing with the particular prototype I am using before moving onto the next one. Something that really annoyed him was that there are no long-term side effects. In terms of Dark magic, the spell is pretty much nothing but a failure."

"That's acceptable I suppose," Gabrielle commented hesitantly. She wasn't sure how she felt about Scorpius using Dark magic on her nephew, but it did seem to be better than the alternative. At the very least, she knew that every word the student had spoken was truthful. Gabrielle Delacour had been very sure she would never approved of the use of Dark magic, but Scorpius had saved her nephew. The spell was something she had never heard of but the potion certainly was. She supposed she should just be grateful that Scorpius had the knowledge to help her cousin and the intelligence to take such precautions. But she did wonder about something. "Why are you afraid to use the proper incantation on Albus?"

"I've only ever used in on an adult before," Scorpius answered. "I had no idea how it would effect a young, not yet fully developed brain. I couldn't take that sort of risk, especially on a friend."

"Okay," Gabrielle said. "I'll allow you to continue to use this spell, under certain conditions. You must observe his body's reactions to the spell and keep me informed on how he progresses. I also want to know how much longer you think you'll be needed."

"Well, I've been watching closely anyway," Scorpius said. "And I don't think he'll need the spell for longer than a few days at most. He slept longer the second time I used the spell. So, that means that his brain is slowing down. It'll take longer to revert back to normal levels, but in a few days, he should be able to fall asleep without the help of the spell. It won't be pleasant, because he will once again be unable to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Starting tomorrow about mid-day, I'll have to keep him awake for at least two hours between each time I cast the spell."

"I take it this is something you know from experience," Gabrielle commented with certainty in her tone. Scorpius just nodded in confirmation. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, since you're going to be going to the Hospital Wing a lot regardless, I think it prudent to make it as convenient for you as possible. Would you be willing to spend your next few days in the Hospital Wing like you would in Slytherin house? You would still go to class of course."

"I'd go to class and eat meals in the Great Hall but basically be living in the Hospital Wing though, right?" Scorpius asked, and it was the professor's turn to nod in confirmation. "I have no problems with that." It would be far more convenient, and it would make protecting Albus much easier just in case David Stewart and his friends got any more bright ideas.

"Now, since that is settled, will you tell me the story of how Albus was forced to drink this potion?" Gabrielle asked.

"It's kind of a long story," Scorpius said, side-stepping from answering right away. "And I don't know all of it first hand. I wasn't there for certain parts."

"Tell me what you know," Garielle told him. "If I find any details lacking, I shall continue the questioning you interrupted. I am not so daft as to assume that the two incidents are unrelated."

"Well, it all started with the rumors that are going around school that say Albus is a rude, stuck up brat who thinks he's too good to associate with anyone but Slytherins," Scorpius said in the tone that most people use when starting a story. "Sixth-year Gryffindor David Stewart is one of the people who believes these rumors, and he decided to take it upon himself to knock Albus down a peg or two. So, yesterday morning before first period, there was a confrontation between them. As far as I heard, Stewart pushed Albus down and threatened him. Louis Weasley was in the immediate vicinity and witnessed this. Louis warned Stewart against attacking Albus ever again. During dinner the same day, I saw a sixth-year Gryffindor who I can now identify as David Stewart speaking with Albus's roommates.

This next morning, Hannah and Holly Halibel found Albus on the ground in his dorm room in much worse condition than he is now. He was in so much pain that he couldn't move or speak. They figured only a Gryffindor had done it and decided to look for outside help. Hannah stayed behind with Albus, and Holly went out looking. I was the first person Holly ran into. She took me back, and I did a quick examination. I know a bit of healing magic, but his injuries were far beyond my help. The only thing I could do for him at that moment was to use that spell to counteract the potion.

Anyway, we took him to the Hospital Wing, helped Madam Pomfrey with the initial treatment, ate breakfast, and went to class. During that time, we were speculating about who could have done this. Hannah and Holly thought it was Stewart. Based on the extent of Albus's injuries, I thought it would have been a group of younger students who had been influenced by David Stewart. I thought the most likely candidates to be the members of said group were Albus's roommates. Lunchtime came around, and we came back to the Hospital Wing. Albus confirmed my theory that his roommates had done the physical damage but insisted they weren't themselves. My guess is that they were given a potion that would release their inhibitions and greatly heighten their desire to do violence. After the confirmation, I was sure that David Stewart was the mastermind, and I told the twins as much.

Well, I put Albus back to sleep and called out to Rose Weasley and James Potter. I had not noticed them as they followed us to the Hospital Wing, but I did notice when they slipped in after us and hid behind a bed. Well, I needed to speak with Madam Pomfrey because she wanted to discuss the spell, so I left the twins to tell the other two what had happened. When I came back, James was gone, and Rose was sure that he went off gathering other family members to quote-em-quote teach Stewart a lesson. From the scene I just saw in the Hospital Wing, I assume that Rose was correct in her assumption."

"I'm sure you're right about Mr. Stewart and his friends instigating the attack on Albus," Gabrielle said. "But do you have any proof that isn't purely circumstantial or theoretical?"

"During lunchtime, a fair few friends of mine heard Carrow and Dolohov discussing and laughing about what they did," Scorpius replied. "Well, I wouldn't call all of them my friends, but that's not really the issue here. Would the word of a dozen or so different Slytherin students work?"

"Enough to validate the use of Veritaserum if needed," the professor confirmed. "Now, about this potion you mentioned…"

"Well, like I said it releases inhibitions and greatly heightens one's desire for violence," Scorpius said. "It cannot make someone do something truly against their principles or morals, but Stewart is clever. Very few eleven-year-olds have a true sense of right and wrong. Making the potion correctly is extremely difficult as it is, but if one is masterful at it, the potion can be made in such a way that all the heightened desire for violence can be aimed at one very specific goal. In this way, it can be considered a mild form of brainwashing, categorizing it, as I'm sure you know, as Dark magic."

"Which one of the three do you believe is most likely to have been the one to brew the potion?" Gabrielle asked, knowing the answer to this question was the one that would most determine how she would alter the punishments.

"Stewart is a leader, and therefore, he is not the type to dirty his own hands," he answered. "Plus, it is highly unlikely that his family would know the recipe. Dolohov's and Carrow's families will definitely know it. However, Gordon Dolohov is about as brilliant as a mountain troll, and Evilyn Carrow has always been a genius at potions. According to my father, she even got an O on her Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. So, the brewer of both potions would have been her."

"I agree with that assessment as well," the professor stated. "Thank you for all your help. Hopefully, I will be able to keep my nieces and nephews safe now."

"If it's like this, I'll always help you however I can. You're not the only one in this room who cares for Albus a great deal," the blonde Slytherin said.

"But you've only known him for a few days," Gabrielle said surprised. "How close could you have gotten in that time?"

"Professor, time is never an accurate indicator for how strong one's feelings should be," Scorpius stated. "Besides, it really is very easy to become fond of Albus. I already consider him a very important friend."

"I see," Gabrielle commented. "Tell me, Mr. Malfoy, how you came to be so wise and mature beyond your years. You are, by far, the most extraordinary eleven-year-old boy I have ever met."

"Unfortunate necessity," Scorpius answered. "Shall we head back now?" Recognizing the tone, Gabrielle Delacour nodded and began heading back to the Hospital Wing with her young student close behind. He was done talking for now. When they had returned, the Hospital Wing was filled to the brim with nervous tension so thick you would think you could cut it with a knife. Sometimes, the apprehension of waiting for the punishment to be doled out was worse than the actual punishment itself, and all the students knew there were going to be alterations. That's just the kind of professor that Gabrielle Delacour was. First, she pulled Madam Pomfrey aside to discuss the arrangements of Scorpius staying for a few nights. After finalizing details between the nurse and her student, she turned to address the students she was punishing.

"Well," the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor said. "Scorpius has relayed to me the events that led up to your hallway brawl. So, there will be a few changes in your punishments. Mr. Stewart, it is obvious that you have little loyalty to your own house, so your loss of points will be transferred to Slytherin House. Furthermore, Ms. Carrow, Mr. Stewart, and Mr. Dolohov, 30 points extra will be taken from Slytherin on top of the 10 your Heads of Houses decided on. Mr. Stewart and Mr. Dolohov will be given two months worth of detention. Ms. Carrow, you are to be suspended until further notice and such time that the Headmaster allows you to come back to school. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Evilyn said. "Why take just Scorpius's word? How do you know he didn't just twist the facts to suit him and his friends?"

"I'm not so daft as to believe an eleven-year-old boy's lies," Gabrielle Delacour stated. "Remember, I have been your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for six years, and you never once tricked me Ms. Carrow, despite your best efforts. You will be sent home first thing in the morning. I know that Scorpius spoke the truth about everything. He told me every single detail of the events that led up to this hallway brawl, including your masterful technique in certain branches of magic. Now, I ask again, any questions?"

This time, no one said anything. After several moments of silence, Gabrielle left with the parting words, "Nieces and nephews, the next time you have such a problem with another student, consult with an adult first. And Ms. Carrow, Mr. Dolohov, Mr. Stewart, you three are very lucky that you are not yet old enough to be considered legal adults. Remember that."

"I feel like we're missing something important," James said after she was gone

"I think most of us are," Holly commented.

"Relax," Evilyn called across the room in a snide tone. "Your puny brain wouldn't be able to comprehend it all anyway." As a verbal match began in the Hospital Wing, Scorpius just shook his head and left. He was headed down to Slytherin House to get his things.

A few weeks later, Albus's school life had finally calmed down a bit. He had been released from the Hospital Wing for a while, and he felt safe in his own bed. His dormmates had been punished with a week's worth of detention and seemed to have formed some sort of silent truce with him. Also, that sixth year Gryffindor wasn't just leaving him be; Stewart was completely ignoring Albus's existence.

Oddly enough, Albus was not the most interested in discovering why this was. One day, Holly pulled Scorpius aside and asked, "What did you do?"

"Gave him a taste of his own medicine," the blonde replied. "I slipped all three of them a potion that causes extremely painful boils to cover their entire behinds. And those boils will be there for months. The best part is that I won't get blamed, because they'll be too ashamed to tell anyone, and the potion didn't activate until two or three days after I was anywhere near them."

"Extremely painful constant reminder that will never be traced back to you?" Holly said giggling loudly; she was almost cackling actually. "I love it!"

A/N: IT'S OVER 9000! …Sorry, couldn't resist. In all seriousness, welcome to the end of Chapter 3 of Return, Rebirth, Redemption. I'm sorry this took so long, but hopefully the fact that this chapter is indeed over 9000 words long will make up for that a little bit. For anyone who is wondering, these chapters are written by events rather than word count. This means, I have planned for certain events to take place in each chapter. So, the length of the chapter depends on how many words it takes to get each event written to my satisfaction. …I remember the days when I thought 2500 words was a long chapter. It's funny how things change.

One very important thing to note before I ask for the usual: There is a reason that Scorpius sounds like he is an adult when talking to Gabrielle Delacour. No, I am not going to tell you why. That will be revealed at a later date. And now that I have said that, here's the usual:

I love reviewers, but I do have a request. I would really love for someone to seriously critique my work. It doesn't have to stop at constructive criticism. I'd love for someone to really pick apart my work and tell me every little thing they hated, what needs to be improved, and what parts of my writing they liked best. Believe me when I say I love all reviews, and it's really nice to know people appreciate my work. However, I'm a far cry from being perfect, and there's always room to improve. Also, if I can get better, I can give better fan fiction to my readers. Anyway, thanks again for reading this fan fiction and hopefully you seriously considered my request.


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